Have You Seen Me Lately?
by FloodFeSTeR
Summary: Sheldon doesn't realize what he's doing when he introduces himself to Penny's new roommate. He doesn't realize what he's doing when he asks her out on a date. He doesn't realize what he's doing when he does the unthinkable. But the one thing he does realize is that he likes it. And she wants to do it again. - Sheldon/OC, Warnings Inside -
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: _**_Because I'm not a very smart person…I mean, I am. I've been reading at a twelfth grade level since I was five. I excelled at Science, History and English/Literature – Math, eh, I'm brain dead with it – but I don't do scientific terms and I know I could just look up some shtick to put in here but that just seems like a pain in the ass. So excuse is the guys seem a little out of character._

**_Warning (s): _**_Dark themes. I don't have the space to list them all so just take my word on it. I will put warnings at the beginning of a chapter if I think anyone will be offended and to prevent triggering. _

_Please review, let me know what you think. Chapters get better and longer, I promise._

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><p><em>"Step out the front door like a ghost<br>into the fog where no one notices the contrast  
>of white on white. And in between the<br>moon and you, the angels get a better  
>view of the crumbling difference<br>between wrong and right. I walk in the air  
>between the rain, through myself and back again.<br>Where? I don't know.  
>Maria says she's dying<br>though the door I hear her crying  
>Why? I don't know."<em>

- **Round Here, Counting Crows**

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><p>If he hadn't opened that door, he would have never seen her.<p>

Leonard would argue that he would have eventually seen her, she had moved in with Penny after all; of course, Penny quietly informed everyone that her new roommate had not intended to leave the confines of Penny's guest room.

But he _had _opened that door.

He _had_ seen her.

He had listed her physical appearance obsessively (of course, he didn't know he had done so 'obsessively'); he was most intrigued by her eyes. They were a rare shade of turquoise and it was something to be amazed by, even for someone like him. How often do you see _turquoise _eyes?

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><p>"This is my friend, Rita."<p>

Penny stood beside the small 'Rita' with a proud smile on her face, hands clasped in front of her floral print dress. This 'Rita' looked so out of place, it was startling. No one – not even Sheldon – dared asked why her right eye was taped over with gauze, but they didn't avoid it. Just didn't acknowledge it. When it was Sheldon's turn to introduce himself, Penny held her breath, concerned on whether he would scare Rita off like he usually did with people.

Sheldon gave her a twitch of a smile. "Sheldon, and yes, I know, it's a pleasure."

Penny rolled her eyes in time with Leonard; Raj and Howard were muttering amongst themselves, not paying attention to the going on's on front of them. But, if they had, if Penny and Leonard were paying as much attention as they should, they would have seen the way she looked up at Sheldon. That one, wide, eye rolling up to meet his. They would have seen the way her pupil dilated and would have seen the way her jaw twitched in an effort to keep that grin down.

"Hello, Sheldon," she whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N:_**_Going ahead and saying it – this story will be very fast paced but we won't get into the main plot line for a moment._

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><p>The third time he saw her, she acted as though they had never met.<p>

He had cornered her in the small space between his apartment door and her and Penny's apartment door. She was frozen, long fingers of her right hand curled around the cold handle of her door. He stared at her back wordlessly, having just caught her attention by nearly shouting 'hey!'. The small space they were in was quiet, tense – on her end. He didn't understand why she was so on edge. He had done nothing to give her reason to be fearful of him.

Had he?

Finally, she looked over her shoulder at him, that eye of hers still bandaged.

_So tiny…_

_So fragile…_

"Sheldon," she gave him a curt nod.

"You are home alone," he hummed.

Her shoulders tensed, as if waiting for him to attack. "Yes," she looked back to the door. "Penny is getting groceries," she hesitated and looked back at him, her shoulders straightening further than before. "You too?"

He nodded. "Leonard went shopping with Penny."

Her brow furrowed. "Then why did you ask me if…"

Silence wrapped around them again while Rita pieced together the pieces of the puzzle. But to him, there _was_ no puzzle to piece together. He didn't know where he was going with his words, but somewhere, deep in the back of his subconscious, he knew it would lead to nowhere good.

"I'm going to lay down," she muttered hastily, opening the door. "Goodnight Sheldon."

As the door clicked shut, he felt left out, he felt cast out. Was she afraid of him? If so, why?

He would learn.

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><p>Her fingers curled in the sheets, her chest arched and she let out a sharp gasp.<p>

**Help.**

_"She was a dancer before…before it finally got to her…"_

_**Burning**__**.**_

_"You know what it's like to lose everything you've ever worked for…"_

**She's **_**burning.**_

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><p>"Penny, I would like to talk to you about your 'friend', Rita."<p>

Penny froze over her to-go cup of udon noodles, her fork inches from her lips. Sheldon was staring down at his own food, eating calmly, like he was just talking about Halo. Leonard and Howard looked over at Penny as well, curious about why he was brining Rita up.

Sheldon and Penny had the most interaction with her; of course, Sheldon had only spoken to her once – when he cornered her in the hallway – but still. The rest of the group, even Leonard, had no luck with getting Rita to come out of her room. She stayed locked up, all day, every day, and Penny said she only came out to eat and even that was a short affair.

Penny cleared her throat a little and lifted her head, setting her food on the edge of the table. "What uh…what would you like to…hear? Yeah, hear."

Sheldon looked over at her, lips lightly pursed. "I was wondering if I could request an audience with her, I know it is something you can arrange for me."

"For you," Penny muttered. "Um…I guess I can talk to her about it…"

He smiled that tight lipped smile everyone was used to and set his food down. "Perfect," he stood. "Now, if you will all excuse me…"

As he scuttled away to his room, everyone shared a confused look. No detailed explanation as to why he was leaving? No over-explanation of why he even _wanted_to see Rita? Penny shook her head and dove back into her food, trying to snuff out the curiosity for why Sheldon wanted to meet Rita. He never voluntarily wanted to meet anyone, this was intriguing.

And that was putting it mildly.

"Think we could meet her too?"

Penny glared at Leonard. "I don't even know why I'm agreeing to letting Sheldon meet her."

"Why can't any of us meet her," Raj muttered.

Penny sighed and set her food back down, rubbing her forehead harshly in aggravation. "Look, Rita is…she moved in with me for a reason and she's not ready for social interactions. How about one at a time and seeing as Sheldon asked first…"

"Fine, fine," Leonard waved a hand and then smiled at her. "It's fine, really."

She supposed it was. It was just Sheldon, she knew Sheldon. And, even though he was annoying most of the time and he was sort of too much for even most people to handle, she believed in Rita. She wasn't putting enough faith into her friend.

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><p><em>"Rita?"<em>

Penny?

_"Rita…open the door please."_

**She couldn't see her.**

Open the door?

_"Rita, are you alright?"_

Her eye opened and she sat up, unclenching her fingers from the sheets. She grimaced at the way her sheets clung to her skin and peeled herself away from her bed, stumbling towards the door. She leaned against the doorframe for a moment and then unlocked the door, opening it just enough to see who it was. Penny. She opened the door fully and looked back at the bed.

"I'm sorry I…" her voice died out.

Penny looked to the bed and just smiled tenderly at Rita. "It's ok, sweetheart, really. Now, I wanted to talk to you about something…"

Rita looked up from under her brow, looking like a child ready for a scolding. "Wh-What is it?"

Penny sighed. "So, you remember Sheldon, right?"

Her heart fluttered and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah…"

"Well, he wanted to know if you would like to talk to him. Well, he said he would like to have an audience with you, but still. For Sheldon, that is a way of saying he wants to talk," Penny took in a deep breath; where was she going with this?

Rita looked up at her, that eye wide and curious. Sheldon…wanted to talk to her? All she could see was his face, that peculiar, round, face, staring at her with such alien eyes. What did he want to talk to her about? She was actually curious about him, why his name made her chest swell and ache.

"Sure," she mumbled, almost too low for Penny to hear.

Penny smiled a little. "Alright, I'll tell him that you're willing to speak to him."

Rita smiled as well, fidgeting in her place. "Thank you…now, where can I wash my sheets?"

Penny frowned at that. "Well, the washers are downstairs."

Her palms instantly became sweaty and she began to wring her wrists together nervously. Penny sensed her distress and hurriedly told Rita she would do it herself, that it was no problem.

"Thank you," Rita muttered. "I hate feeling like a burden."

Penny shook her head and almost pat her on the shoulder but thought better of it and retracted her hand. Rita looked like she felt horrible – for cringing at Penny whenever she tried to touch her. She couldn't help it, that was just a fact about Rita that couldn't be helped. Penny wished her young friend would understand she was just fine the way she was, that Penny understood and didn't mind the way Rita acted when proposed with human contact.

Hell, she didn't even like animals touching her.

"Look," Penny muttered, beginning to pull up the sheets to the bed. "I know you're not really comfortable with talking to him and all…"

"No," Rita pressed her back against the wall beside the door. "It's fine, really. I'm fine with talking to him…so long as he doesn't touch me."

"Oh don't worry, Sheldon is not a big fan of human-contact. You don't have to worry about it. And he won't try to take you out. So, that's cool."

Rita didn't say anything, didn't need to. She had been thinking about speaking to him for days, since he approached her in the hallway. Since Penny introduced them in his apartment. It was some insane fascination with the lanky man living across the hall that was driving her to sleepless nights. It had only been a week but still, Rita was concerned.

The same problem had put her in Penny's apartment in the first place.

"Well, when does he want to come over?"

They both looked to the door, hearing the knocking; to Penny, it was familiar.

_Knock, knock, knock_

"Penny."

_Knock, knock, knock_

"Penny."

As he continued his ritualistic knocking, Penny sighed and stood straight, sheets in her arms. "Speak of the devil."

Rita looked out the bedroom door with a curious look on her face. "Why does he do that?"

"Who the hell knows," Penny grumbled, walking out into the living room.

Rita shuffled behind her, heart fluttering as she watched Penny approached the front door. When she pulled it open, Sheldon swept in without touching her, eyes running over the room. When he saw Rita, he straightened his back, he looked over at Penny.

"So?"

Penny put a hand on her hip. "She said yes," she gestured at Rita, who had yet to move from the hallway. "Why don't you talk to her? She _is _right there."

Sheldon pursed his lips and Rita cocked her head to the side, stepping out of the hallway. He approached her, keeping a comfortable distance while she still looked like he was holding her at point blank range. Her eyes were wide, her hands squeezed tight around her middle. When they didn't speak, Penny sighed, catching their attention.

"Well guys, I'm gonna go wash these sheets. Sheldon, can you keep her company for me? Please," she looked over at Rita. "If that's alright with you?"

Rita hesitated then looked up at Sheldon. "Yeah…yeah that's alright…"


End file.
